The artist was related to the pianist Benno Moiseiwitsch CBE (1890–1963), who is probably the sitter in this portrait. Benno was also born in Odessa, where he studied from the age of seven with Dmitry Klimov at the Odessa Music Academy, winning the Anton Rubinstein Prize at the age of nine. Afterwards he continued his studies with Theodor Leschetizky in Vienna (1904-08), then joined his own family in England, making his English debut at Reading in 1908 and his London debut in 1909, then touring the United States, Australia, India, Japan, and South America. Moiseiwitsch was invited by Director Josef Hofmann to teach at the Curtis Institute of Music in 1927. He settled in England, becoming a British citizen in 1937, and was made a CBE in 1946, for his musical contribution during the Second World War. One of his daughters is the set designer Tanya Moiseiwitsch.